SPUNTINO

My chief lover took me to Polpo and I loved it. Buzzing atmosphere, quirky with easily executed, delicious food made for a very happy time. So, when I found out it was a chain I was a bit amazed. In fact, I'm not sure I'm over it yet.

A foodie friend from America came to visit from across the pond and, curious about meeting Polpo's relatives, we chose Spuntino in Soho for lunch. At about 1pm Spuntino is the kind of place you could easily miss if you didn't know it was there. It's the real life equivalent to the easily overlooked Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter! Thankfully I was led by a highly observant crew, each armed with iPhones and all was well. Note: It's easily spotted after 6.30pm thanks to the queue of people clamoring for a place.

Let's talk about the decor. Gloriously dingy with New York speakeasy dinge-factor 30. In keeping with this vintage vibe they haven't even got a phone! (And no reservations as a result.) Make sure you can grab a corner for groups larger than two - the at-the-bar dining experience can stifle easy conversation - no-one wants a creaky neck after lunch. At this juncture I must warn you of the bar stools. No problem for youthful limbs but I shan't be bringing granny.

Having a quick glance at the menu I noted to my friends that this seemed like a tapas style sharing joint. The American half of our party refused to believe me (fools), so we Europeans braved on, sharing to our hearts and stomachs content.We were right by the way.

The food here is intelligent, simple and tasty. I could happily eat my way through their menu....

Fennel encrusted aubergine chips! Pungent. Yum.

Mouth watering pulled pork slider.

Buttermilk chicken wings.

My favourite!!! Truffled egg toast. Break into the middle an yolk oozes!!

Beetroot, anchovy and soft boiled egg salad. Sublime.

Roast cauliflower, chermoula and smoked almonds.

This has swiftly become a favoured haunt thanks to their delicious food and reasonable prices. I've been twice now (within a few weeks), eaten indulgently and not spent more than £15 either time! Fan bloody tastic. Get yourself there.



Spuntino
www.spuntino.co.uk

61 Rupert Street W1D 7PW

CRAZY FOR KOREAN

When I was at school, Henry J Beans was The Place To Be, thanks entirely to their chicken wings. I never really understood it - even as a fatty lover wings always seemed a miserable combination of grease and mess. They're bleeding fiddly buggers resulting in ruined clothes every time! I just couldn't get on board with the wing-fanaticism, that is until I discovered Korean food in Japan - where else?! The chicken was so delicious, so sweet, so crispy and with a wonderful whallop from the chili. The flavours ran all the way through, from the crisp exterior to the melting juiciness of the meat itself. Suddenly chicken wings made a LOT of sense, and I'm not ashamed to say with all of Tokyo's culinary delights (I still salivate at the memory) I became a frequent visitor to that Korean restaurant. Since then I've been on a quest to find a London Korean that's as delicious. My father has taken me on endless trips round the delights of New Malden's 'Korea Town', but while the supermarkets are incredible (well worth a trip) and many of the restaurants delicious, I still couldn't find the chicken winged heaven I was searching for.

Then by accident I came across Holborn's 'Asadal'. Tucked away next to the station, I was convinced I'd discovered a secret taste haven - so unbelievably delicious, but sadly with a price tag to match. Also, it's the largest Korean restaurant in London and full all the time, so a rubbish secret. Finally, my craving taste buds were placated and the restaurant became a small obsession of mine. The thing is I simply can't afford to eat there as often as I'd like, and I need my fix of that chicken! So after a lot of desperate research I can share this recipe with you. Joy to the world! Chicken wings are cheap!

Korean Fried Chicken!

Korean Fried Chicken Recipe

How to...
Marinade
Traditionally there is no marinade - they season the chicken with salt and pepper and that's it. My way makes for a tasty interior AND exterior, hurrah.

Ingredients
6 chicken wings
4 tbsps soy sauce
1 onion chopped
1 inch ginger chopped
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 tbsps honey
a handful of chopped coriander
pinch of salt and a grind or two of pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and cover the chicken in it. You can marinade it for an hour or leave it over night.

Batter it!
The Korean's secret to perfect delicious chicken is that it's twice fried. MMmmmm delicious, BUT also less than healthful so I'm gonna suggest that you fry it once and finish it off under the grill. This also means that the sauce reduces more and becomes extra sitcky on the wings.

Ingredients
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp rice flour
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the batter ingredients. Drain any excess marinade and then cover the chicken in the dry mixture. The marinade will help the flour mix to stick to the chicken.

Fry it!
Ingredients
2 tbsps vegetable oil

In a frying pan heat the oil over a high heat until it is smoking, and then turn it down to a medium heat.

Place the battered chicken in in batches of three, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side or until the flour is becoming crispy and golden

Sauce it!
Put the oven on the fan/grill setting at 220°C.
 
Confession time. In the picture I've not used what I should and would normally use, gojujang (Korean chili paste.) Please forgive me. I didn't have any, and the chili flakes worked fine. I still recommend the gojujang, it has a much deeper and more intense flavour than chili flakes, which just give off a bit of heat.


Ingredients
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsps honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 cloves of finely minced garlic
5 tbsps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp gojujang

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl before gently reducing them over a medium heat in a frying pan for 2 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the fried chicken and roughly cover all the pieces. Place all the chicken onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

HEAVEN!

DEHESA - referring to a grassy haven in Spain's Extremadura

Ever since a friend who worked in the kitchens of Dehesa introduced me to it I've been a major fan, though in the last year my visits have dwindled somewhat. So when I walked by it on my way to Nopi it was like bumping into an old friend but walking straight on without properly inquiring after each others health - devastating for all parties involved. This tragedy, however, was the catalyst that strengthened my resolve to return and at first opportunity I was dining once more at this familiar favourite.

Dehesa, sister restaurant to The Salt Yard and Opera Tavern (neither of which I've yet been to), is a Spanish/Italian charcuterie and tapas restaurant with a difference. The difference is that it doesn't stick to the traditional world of Spanish cuisine - though a loving nod is certainly made - they branch off, whisking the lucky taster into new, uncharted terrain of tapas dishes. Although the menu doesn't seem to have evolved too much since I've frequented it, this does make for a lovely cozy familiarity with the place. To be honest, I'd be furious if I returned and the deep fried courgette flowers (stuffed with goats cheese and slathered in honey) had been replaced by anything else, ever.

I've never booked, and been happy for them to take my name and number and call me when a table is ready - but the popularity of the place means it can be a long wait. Still, I've always found that a drink at one of the nearby bars and pubs does the trick!

Our journey started with these unbelievably delicious courgette flowers.

Pork belly, beautifully cooked sitting on rosemary scented cannellini beans.

This was a new one from the last time I'd been, lamb chops with lambs tongue, girolles and a mint alioli.

Malfatti with sage butter, trompette and parmesan

Hake with chorizo mash, clams and cider sauce

Salt cod crequetas with romesco sauce, crisp and creamy delicious!

We didn't have dessert. We were both quite full and had just enough room to have another plate of those to-die-for courgette flowers. Stuffed to the brim and with a bottle of wine this came to just about £30 per head. I'm sure I'm biased - I love this food, but I think that's pretty reasonable for such delights!



www.dehesa.co.uk/

25 Ganton St  London W1F 9BP

020 7494 4170

BRIOCHE CUSTARD EXPLOSION

I hereby bequeath this recipe to Gillian who requested it's feature on this blog and to Bart, living downstairs, whose main excitement of my friends coming over for dinner is that THIS might be in the oven. To his joy it often is.

This pud bounded into my life when I threw a 'food heritage party' - pretty geeky I know, but look what I learned! Huge thanks go to William who brought it along and more to Lily who confided her family recipe in him all those years ago.

This is my kind of food. Negligible faff and positively bursting with flavour. Boxes are ticked with incredible gusto: so simple, so sweet, so luxuriously indulgent and so bloody quick! This is perfect dinner party fodder. It takes 5 minutes to whip into the oven and then you can forget about it while you eat your meal. Yet another of this pudding's many accolades is that it really can't go wrong. How could it when it's core ingredients are brioche, cream, chocolate and raspberries?! The key is to keep the oven on a nice low heat so that the eggy custard thickens without splitting and the chocolate doesn't burn. Of course, this is calorific hell but Fat Is Flavour - just enjoy it!

Fresh from the oven, and dusted in icing sugar

2 minutes later and there were just 3 of us! Check that Ooozing Chocolate.

This has served 6 people and it has served 3, it depends how greedy you are!

Ingredients
300g brioche
150g creme fraiche
One punnet of raspberries
100ml double cream
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lindt extra creamy chocolate bar - all in!
2 large eggs

Recipe
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
First make a custard by mixing the eggs, sugar, cream and creme fraiche together with the vanilla extract.
Tear up the brioche into large-ish chunks (enough for a small handful) and leave them to soak in the glorious custard mix. Meanwhile, break the chocolate into half squares.

Assemble
In an oven-proof dish, layer it up. Half of the wet brioche is followed by the chocolate which is followed by the raspberries (keeping a handful behind) and then the other half of the brioche on top. Pour the rest of the custard mix over and sprinkle with raspberries.
Cook for about 45 minutes before giving it a quick dusting of icing sugar et voila. Serve it hot, so all the chocolate is still oozing M&S food porn stylee.